Do cats fully understand that inanimate objects are… well, inanimate? Like this froggy lawn ornament.
Our cat Henry had a kazoo over a string of wooden worry beads that happened to be on the floor. He acted like he was fully convinced it was a rattlesnake. I don’t think he ever realized that it wasn’t.
With cats, it’s hard to tell. It looks like this cat is seriously concerned about this frog, and every noise seemed to alarm it. On the other hand, it wasn’t all that scared, it stayed pretty close. I think it’s a conflict between raw instinct and trusting their senses, that this this lacks the scent of a living creature and couldn’t possibly be alive.
P.S.–Robbie’s doing very well, bouncing back from surgery and all the rest.